Decimated Dreams
by Pureblood Mask
Summary: Harry is summoned to a parallel universe by Dumbledore and the Order. They want him to help defeat the Dark Lord, but Harry insists that he will not be the Wizarding World's savior again. Dumbledore and his stupid binding magical contracts.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Disclaimer (applies to whole fic): Joanne Kathleen Rowling owns HP.

This chappy is dedicated to jameslilyharry, my pebble.

Chapter 1

"Daddy?" Teddy Lupin asked quizzically at Harry. Harry smiled and reprimanded his godson once again. "No, Teddy, your dad's name was Remus Lupin. He was a brave man who died during the Battle of Hogwarts. I'll tell you all about him one day, but remember, I'm not your dad. Just your godfather. I don't deserve the title of Dad, when Remus was your father, Teddy."

Teddy giggled and reached for Harry's messy hair. "Harry! Harry!" Harry smiled and set him down and walked out, just as Andromeda, Teddy's grandmother, came in.

"Harry, I didn't realize you were here! Honestly, you come here so often to visit Teddy, why don't you just move in?"

"Can't," Harry replied wistfully. "The Daily Prophet's looking for more gossip about me, currently. Don't want them spreading rumors about you lot too."

Andy sighed. "Come soon. And bring your friends with you again, sometime, will you?"

"Of course," Harry smiled. "They miss Teddy, even the ferret. I'll see you again next time." Harry thought for a second, and then said, "Actually, why I don't take Ted out for the day? Merlin knows you need the break, and it really has been a while since my friends have seen them."

"Alright Harry. You go and have fun, will you? And don't let the press bother you too much, alright?" Andy handed her grandson to Harry.

"Alright," Harry laughed and with a crack, disapparated to Grimmauld Place. There, he quickly scribbled several notes to give to the new owl he bought after the war (even though it would never replace Hedwig) to go to Hermione, Ron, Luna, Draco, and Ginny respectively, telling them to meet him at Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor in 30 minutes. He would have invited Neville, but he knew the man was probably at Hogwarts preparing for classes.

He set off to Diagon Alley, ignoring the press that was throwing multiple questions at him, even going so far as to blast one reporter who was particularly nosy on his love life. After that, most people stayed a bit away, but Harry made certain the owner of Fortescue's put privacy charms around his table.

Ron and Hermione arrived first, greeting Harry enthusiastically, Hermione giving him a hug and an extremely bright smile, along with the news that her parents had their memories reversed and could now remember their daughter. Draco then came, a cold expression at them all, before looking around and giving them a half-smile. Harry almost chuckled at Draco's desire for everyone to still think that they were rivals, not that they could be after Narcissa had saved Harry's life, and Harry had saved Draco's. All of them were waiting for Luna and Ginny to arrive. At long last, Luna came, surprisingly wearing her lion hat, which Harry really didn't think there was a reason for, aside from making Draco annoyed. She came bearing the news that Ginny couldn't make it, as she had a Quidditch match that day for the Holyhead Harpies. Harry waved his hand, indicating it was fine. Everyone except Luna was eager to know what Harry had called them for, until Harry asked in a sarcastic tone if it wasn't okay for him to see his friends for a chat once in awhile. Things were going fine, and it was perhaps one of the best days since he had destroyed Voldemort that he had.

* * *

A young boy with red hair - almost red enough to make one think he was a Weasley - ran out of the kitchen, waving his arms around wildly and yelling, "Mum! Old Dumbles came to visit us today!"

Lily Potter walks over to the boy, making it seem like a daily occurrence, and says mildly, "Don't call the headmaster that, Leo. I'm sure when you're old you wouldn't want people calling you 'Old Leo.'"

James Potter walks in as well, chuckling at his wife's former comment, and additionally making no move to reprimand his youngest son. Instead, he says, "Old is quite a bit from 11, isn't it?" and walks over to Dumbledore, and smiles, shaking the man's hand. "Any news on the war?" he asks, if a bit tentatively, meanwhile shooing his son out of the room.

"No new deaths, although there could very well be another attack on Hogsmeade soon, according to Severus. There were a couple of hints dropped about it, at the last Death Eater meeting."

James shakes his head, and Albus Dumbledore can still tell that James' old rivalry with Severus has not completely been resolved yet. Even so, they have come to a mutual agreement that for the sake of the war, they would try and remain on as neutral terms as possible until the Dark Lord has been defeated. It was a wise thing to have done, because otherwise the Order of the Phoenix couldn't have cooperated, as both were both important members of the anti-Voldemort association. Of course, there were still people who died, just like James' oldest son, Harry, who had died because of misplacement of trust. It had eventually led James to wariness and reluctance to trust _anyone_ , especially regarding his two remaining children.

"Well," James says, gesturing for the Headmaster to take a seat, "To what do we owe this pleasure?"

Dumbledore's tone grows serious, almost comically, and perhaps James would have laughed if the older man hadn't started to speak at that moment. "James," he says slowly, "I've always trusted you, because I know that you're a good man. I see the way you love your children, and how you take care of them. I know you mourn every day for Harry's death -"

"Get to the point, old man," James whispered.

Dumbledore smiled gently and said, "Voldemort will cause more deaths, just like Harry's. Without someone who can ultimately stop him, once and for all, he will reign over this world as the supreme ruler. So I found a spell… a spell that could be considered borderline dark… but it will bring another man from an alternate universe, one that has already defeated Voldemort before, to us."

It had gone dead silent.

Dumbledore spoke again. "The reason it's borderline dark, you see, is because it's a binding magical contract. Nearly everyone - no, _everyone_ will have to donate a drop of blood to this cause in order for it to work. And the defeater of Lord Voldemort will be bound to stay until he has completed what he came for."

James laughed, a deep laugh without humour. "Had it been anyone else who said that, Dumbledore, I would have deemed them mad to even attempt such a spell. But my complete trust is in you, Headmaster. If not for anything else, I will do this to avenge my son."

Lily smiled. James hadn't been brave enough to talk about their eldest son for years. And today, it looked like James was finally free again.

"I trust you will be able to safely get to headquarters, won't you? I can get Minerva to watch the kids." Dumbledore smiled, already heading outside the house to apparate.

James smiled. "We'll be there."

Dumbledore nodded, and was gone.

James heaved a sigh of relief, and called their two sons down. "Char, Leo," he said, "Mum and I will be going out for a while. Try not to get into any mischief, will you, Char? And Leo, take care of your brother."

"What?" Char exclaimed, "I'm the older one here! And why don't you ever tell Leo not to get into any mischief?"

Lily smiled and said, "Aunt Minnie will be coming to watch over you boys, as well."

"Aunt Minnie? Yes, she always lets us do whatever she wants!" exclaimed Leo happily.

"You'll be changing that opinion when you go to Hogwarts this year," Char grumbled. "She practically gives detention for _breathing_."

"That's Snape you're talking about, son." James added merrily to the conversation.

"And Mum! She gives out detentions for having one of Fred and George's canary creams! I didn't even plan on using them!"

"That's because if you accidentally dropped one of them into a potion, it could cause a huge explosion!" Lily defended herself.

Now Leo simply looked terrified of Hogwarts. His head darted around toward his mum, then his brother, as if scared of what would happen.

Luckily, just then the wards alerted them to Professor McGonagall having arrived. Lily opened the door and greeted her heartily, inviting her in.

"Thank you for doing this, Professor, it means a lot to us." Lily said.

"Of course, dear, and do stop using Professor, would you? Minerva."

"Old habits die hard, Minnie." James says.

"And you, Mr. Potter, you should really show some respect to your professors." Minerva shakes her head.

"But - but - you just let Lily -"

"Leo! How's my favorite boy doing?" Minerva asked. Char coughs and glares up at his aunt.

"Oh, and the mischief maker. You didn't think you'd be my favorite after calling me 'Aunt Minnie' several times in class, did you?"

James laughs loudly, and through his laughter says, "We'll have to get going now. Char, _behave_."

"He won't be when you're the one encouraging him," Minerva grumbles, making sure James can hear her.

James just laughs again, and walks out the door to apparate, Lily following close behind him.

Lily smiles up at James, and says, "Meet you there." James nods back, and together, the two disappear from Godric's Hollow.

* * *

"We're off to see the wizard, the wonderful wizard of Oz -"

"Quiet, Sirius. This is an important meeting."

"But Moony -"

"No, quiet. This spell will be important, as Dumbledore mentioned. It's a good thing I'm here at Headquarters with you, or I'm sure you would've exploded by now."

"No, I'm just singing the song to annoy my mother. You can still hear her screaming from her portrait."

"Oh. Well, do carry on, Sirius."

"Will do." Sirius smirked, looking towards the door as it opened. When it turned out to be his favorite married couple, he ran toward them, shouting, "James!", going so far as to ignore Lily's offended look.

"Padfoot!" James shouted back, running forward to hug his best friend. "Haven't seen you in a while."

"Not since yesterday, at least," sniffed Lily. Both men turned to glare at her.

As they took a seat together, Dumbledore walked to the front of the room. "Looks like nearly everyone is here. All of you should know what today's meeting is about, as I have personally visited each of you to discuss this. It surprised me, to say the very least, that most of you were very open about this new idea. So I would like to thank you all for your cooperation. Now, to the actual ritual. As I have told you all, it is a binding ritual that makes sure the person we summon cannot leave until he fulfills his duty to us. And to do this, we need a drop of blood from everyone in this room." He stared a while, and added, "Those of you who are unwilling to do this, still have the opportunity to leave now."

Nobody rose. Dumbledore smiled. "Then we must not waste time. Voldemort is out there, killing hundreds of muggles at this very moment. There is a knife here up front, if you wish to prick your finger yourself. Otherwise, I'm sure you all know the charm that will do the same. Starting from Ms. McKinnon, pass the basin around, ending with Mr. Weasley. I should be able to say the charm, and we'll be able to greet the man that has defeated Tom Riddle in an alternate universe."

There was a murmur of excitement, and the bowl was passed around quickly, and Fred Weasley (that was what he claimed, anyhow, he really could've been George Weasley) passed the bowl to Dumbledore.

Dumbledore pushed the rims of his glasses up, and slowly, poured the amass of blood that he had gathered onto the floor. "Salvator tuus veniet ad faciendum officium." He waved his arm in a wand movement that no one had ever seen before and then -

There was a roaring noise inside the house now, and Dumbledore swore he could've heard screaming that didn't belong to anyone in the house. The spell couldn't have gone wrong, he had looked into everything about it, the spell couldn't have gone wrong!

And then, a young boy came through, lying on the floor, blood smeared all over, his hand covering his face.

* * *

In the middle of a chain of insults that Draco was throwing at Luna, while Luna looked completely relaxed as her lion continued to roar, Harry heard the wind blowing quite fiercely. Harry might have just dismissed it as a windy day had they not been inside at the moment, so he had his wand in hand, not trusting to leave it anywhere other than there after that bloody war.

Suddenly, his wand began to glow and Harry jumped quite suddenly, expecting something terrible to happen at any moment. Really now, these unusual occurrences were becoming more _usual_ occurrences. Harry prepared his wand at the ready, and pushed Teddy, who had been laughing, abruptly off his lap and onto the floor. His friends began to notice that something was wrong. Hermione asked Harry what he was doing, until suddenly, a searing pain bloomed inside Harry, and he could smell the faint scent of blood arise. He could hear cracking, magic in the air, it was beating inside his chest, his teeth were clenching together to try and relieve some of the pain, and he started to scream, until all was black.

* * *

Luna sat upright just as the others were beginning to wake. "Is Harry alright?"

"Argh Malfoy, geroff me -"

"I can't when your girlfriend's leg is stuck in my ear -"

"Oh, quiet Draco, or it'll be in your balls next -"

"Is Harry alright?"

"Looks like you finally grew up from not breaking any rules at all, Granger -"

"Better than slimy snakes like you, who bend rules inside of breaking them!"

"Is Harry alright?"

"Luna, your hat is making too much noise -"

"What just happened, anyway? It's probably all Potter's fault, _once again_ -"

"Is Harry alright?"

Suddenly the question seemed to register with all of them, and they looked at Luna. "Where's Harry?" Hermione asked in a small whisper. "What- what just happened? Is this - well, we're still in Fortescue's, but Harry's gone. What happened?"

As no one could give an answer, Draco Malfoy rushed out into Diagon Alley.

* * *

Harry moaned as his eyes slowly opened and he looked around. He was in Grimmauld Place, but - he was in the guest bedroom. How did that happen? Harry suddenly recalled going to the ice cream parlour with his friends, and a sharp, searing pain. He was worried. Something might've happened to his friends! He tried getting out of bed, but he was sore all over, and he felt extremely dizzy. As soon as he let go of the bed and shakily tried to stand, he toppled over and hit the ground with a loud crash.

The Order of the Phoenix was having breakfast downstairs, when they heard the crash. Sirius Black looked over at James, who blinked before standing up and announcing that he'd go check on the boy that came through last night. Dumbledore agreed and continued to take a sip of his pumpkin juice.

As James walked up the stairs, his curiosity wondered. The boy that they had accidentally summoned - because it was obviously not this child that had defeated the darkest lord in the history of Britain - looked identical to him when he was around his older teenage years.

James stopped at the guest bedroom in the middle of his musing, and lightly knocked the door. He heard a groan from the other side and hesitantly pushed the door open. Immediately, a wand was pointed at him from the floor where the boy was sitting, and the boy's eyes widened when he registered what he saw.

"Okay, you bastard, now's not the best time. Could you come again in an hour to torture me to death?" Harry groaned again, adjusting his glasses.

James blinked. "Pardon?" he asked.

"Honestly, are you deaf? I asked if you could possibly come back in an hour."

James blinked again. "I'll go get Dumbledore. He - well, he - anyway, Dumbledore."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Of course, you do that." James practically ran out of the room and down the stairs.

"Albus?" James asked. The Headmaster turned around and gestured for James to continue. "The boy seems to be under the impression that - I, ah - am going to torture him. Could you explain how we summoned him here and he has to complete his duty?"

The Headmaster's eyes twinkled and he smiled. "Come with me, James." He addressed the rest of the Order, "We'll be right down."

James trailed after Dumbledore up the stairs, once again stopping at the door. This time, neither knocked, instead going straight in, where they found Harry sitting on the bed, extremely still. Harry ignored them and continued whatever he was doing.

"Hello," Dumbledore said, "My name is Albus Dumbledore, and I'm the Headmaster of a school called Hogwarts. Have you ever heard of it?"

"No, you're not."

"Pardon me, my boy?"

"You're not the Headmaster, your name is not Albus Dumbledore, and you can stop pretending now, Death Eater."

"Could you explain?"

"What's there to explain? Care to do an Identity spell?"

Dumbledore gave Harry a look and the words "Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore" appeared over his head.

Harry gave him a look. "Summon Fawkes, then."

Fawkes was summoned.

Harry smiled and reached down to pet the bird. And with a soft croon, Fawkes was off again.

Harry gave him another look. "You're doing pretty well so far, you know. But tell me this: How did Ariana die?"

Dumbledore startled and with a crash he was on the ground, an uncommon sight for the Headmaster, usually a calm and peaceful man. James stared at the newcomer, wondering how in Merlin's name he could possibly have made the Headmaster so startled. He was just wondering if he should restrain the other wizard when Dumbledore asked, "How in the world do you know about Ariana?"

Harry raised his eyebrows. "Research, mostly. Rita Skeeter made the mystery bigger, spreading lies about you. But the last piece in the puzzle was Aberforth, actually."

Dumbledore gave a numb and yet a fresh, raw look of pain at the floor. "I killed her. I think I've always known, deep down, that I killed her."

Harry looked Dumbledore in the eye, and said, "You may have led the circumstances that killed her, but I think I know that it wasn't you who cast the curse, Albus."

Albus Dumbledore gave a surprised look at Harry, another look James had never seen on the Headmaster's face before. "Thank you, Harry." And the topic was left at that, something James would wonder for the longest time about why it had ended at that.

Harry then sighed, turning James' attention back to him. "What do you want, _Albus Dumbledore_?"

"Well first, shall we start with your name?"

Harry was thrown for a loop at this one. "I - what? It - I - Harry. My name's Harry."

James immediately held his breath and looked at Dumbledore, but all Dumbledore gave was a, "Well thank you, Harry!"

Harry sighed. "Hand me a lemon drop, Albus. Okay so do tell, why am I seeing you again? Am I at King's Cross again or just daydreaming now?"

Albus reached across to hand Harry the lemon drop. "Good choice, my boy - the lemon drops are laced with mild calming potion. Anyway, you come from an alternate universe."

Harry sighed, noting the potion was already taking effect. "Of course, first thing I should've thought of. One thing that hasn't happened to me yet will happen anyway."

Neither Dumbledore nor James could make sense of this, but James continued holding his breath and Dumbledore continued to smile.

"Well, in our world, the Order of the Phoenix is a group of members -"

"I know."

"Ah - yes, well, I'm assuming the one main difference is that Voldemort is dead in your world and alive in ours."

Harry's body froze at the world Voldemort, and his emerald green eyes turned dark. "And what it is you mean to say?"

"In our world, things were terrible, Voldemort had destroyed most muggleborns before they even turned 11, blood traitors were killed, Voldemort even killed his own Death Eaters when they ceased to be useful. It was getting more and more dangerous every day. So… the Order decided to summon someone who had already defeated the Dark Lord in another world. Obviously, we did the spell wrong. We're extremely sorry for dragging you into this."

"Oh, the spell didn't go wrong, Albus." Harry laughed darkly.

James interrupted right there. "What do you mean? Obviously, it did. How could a little boy like you defeat the greatest dark lord in the history of Britain?"

"Well, tell me, how do I get back, because I refuse to be your savior, Headmaster. After all, a _little boy_ can't be your savior. Also, I need to know. What happened to my friends? They didn't come to this alternate universe with me, did they? Because I swear if any one of them were harmed -"

"I can assure you - Harry - that no one else arrived with you. I believe you were the only one. At the moment, I cannot tell you where we are, for safety reasons, as you may presume. But I can tell you, however, that you are safe where you are, and I can assure you that any Death Eaters cannot get to you here."

Harry rolled his eyes. "I'd like to think I'd recognize Headquarters even in an alternate universe, Albus. I know Grimmauld Place. Thank you for summoning me and all, very flattered, Albus, but I'd like to leave now. Have a good day."

"Harry, wait - the spell that we used to bring you here was a binding contract." Harry had already gotten up and started wobbling his way toward the door, but at this he gave an incredulous look at Dumbledore and swore.

"You're different." Harry stated.

James turned and gave Dumbledore an incredulous look, but the Headmaster simply nodded, as if he had expected Harry to say that, and asked, "How so?"

Harry sat back down on the bed again, and closed his eyes. "Headmaster, there's something you have to understand about my world. I think I can safely say that I've grown up differently than most other children, in any universe. You - in my world, you might have thought about the greater good. You might have sacrificed yourself to save thousands, millions, to defeat Voldemort." Harry laughed. "I don't think there's any universe you wouldn't have done that. But in the end, the most important thing was -" Harry opened his eyes. "You loved me, you loved me like you would've loved a son."

James stared. So did Dumbledore.

"And that's how you're different. My Headmaster would never have tried to summon another me to defeat Voldemort. He might have given himself up, but he would never have given me up."

There was pause, and then Dumbledore replied, "You must've been very close."

Harry gave a tired smile. "Close? Not particularly. I used to think I knew more about Albus than anyone else. I couldn't have been more wrong, but by the time I had realized that, it had been far too late. The only question I've ever asked him, as a matter of fact, is what he saw when he looked in the Mirror of Erised, and I don't believe he answered that truthfully. But the fact remains, close or not, that Albus loved me."

Dumbledore sighed, and said, "Well Harry, I supposed we've been quite rude. We'll leave you to sleep now. You must be pretty tired and sore after traveling across universes. Madam Pomfrey - the school nurse, thought you weren't going to survive. Of course, she did a tremendously wonderful job in fixing you up. I was wondering though, Madam Pomfrey said you have a scar on your left shoulder caused by basilisk venom. What happened there?"

James eyes widened and followed Harry's own eyes as it trailed toward his left shoulder. "Happened in my second year," Harry replied monotonously. "Fawkes healed me in the end, though."

At this James let loose. "This all happened in your second year! What in Merlin's name were you thinking, Dumbledore?" He rounded on the Headmaster.

Dumbledore gave James an odd look, before looking back at Harry again. "One last question, if you don't mind me asking."

Harry gave the tiniest hint of a nod.

Dumbledore smiled, and said in a hushed voice, "Your name's Harry James Potter, is it not?"

Harry looked at Dumbledore, then at James, and he said, "You wouldn't believe how much I'd like it changed."

* * *

A/N: Alright, please read and review! The next chappy is under construction.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Dedicated to everyone who reviewed, favorited, or followed. Thank you all.

There was some confusion in the last chapter which Dawson079 pointed out to me. It may have said that I uploaded a Chapter 2, but I was actually uploading the previous chapter and taking down the first one, because I had combined the first two chapters into one. Sorry if that didn't make much sense, but just in case you had any confusions, this chapter is Chapter 2, and the previous one is Chapter 1.

* * *

 _Dumbledore smiled, and said in a hushed voice, "Your name's Harry James Potter, is it not?"_

 _Harry looked at Dumbledore, then at James, and he said, "You wouldn't believe how much I'd like it changed."_

Chapter 2

James gasped, and immediately flew out the door, and put a hand on the wall, struggling to breathe and give in to the absurdness of what he had just heard. He took one calming breath, and he thought wildly and selfishly to himself that this boy was not his. Even if it wasn't some strange freaky coincidence, that the boy simply looked so much like himself and had the name Harry James Potter - okay, that surely wasn't a coincidence. Which meant this was his son from an alternate dimension. But not his son. Never his son. Obviously, in another world, he had managed to prevent his son from dying. Obviously, that James was a much better father than he was. That James deserved to have his son back. That other James deserved to have Harry. But _he_ didn't.

Dumbledore slowly turned to look at the door, which had just been slammed shut after James escape. He smiled mournfully at Harry, who gave him a questioning look.

Dumbledore said softly, "That was James Potter, your father, as you must know. This is rather hard to explain but… you're dead in this world, Mr. Potter. James really hasn't been the same since your death, back when you were one."

Harry nodded, maintaining a cool mask, even though inside his heart was pounding. He had suspected as much that his dad was standing alive, in front of him, although to hear it from Dumbledore was certainly another thing. Even through his pounding heart, he managed to choke out a few thoughts to himself: the first and foremost being on the top of his mind. _Do not get close, Harry. Do not get close. The closer you get, the harder it'll be when you need to leave._

Dumbledore smiled then and got up, seemingly oblivious to Harry's inner turmoil. He gave one last nod to Harry, then walked out the door, leaving Harry alone to brood on his thoughts.

And there were many, many thoughts.

* * *

James stumbled again as the Headmaster walked out. James voice seemed hoarse, but he tried to choke out a question as Dumbledore laid a comforting hand on James' shoulder. "Was it true?" he asked simply.

"Yes," Dumbledore said, usual twinkle in his blue eyes gone.

James sat in a heap on the floor. "I guess I thought it's too good to be true," he said in a soft whisper, and then as the thought occurred to him, "How in the world am I going to tell Lily, not to mention Char and Leo?"

"You'd best do it soon," Dumbledore advised, getting up once again. "If you'd like, I'm sure Sirius wouldn't mind letting you spend a day at Headquarters. It might be easier than apparating back and forth from Godric's Hollow, don't you think?"

"We left Char and Leo with Minerva," James said hollowly. "We'd have to get them."

"Not to worry, my boy. I'm sure Minerva wouldn't mind coming to Headquarters. After all, she is a trusted member of staff and member of the Order, even though most days she doesn't attend meetings anymore."

"Alright," James said, having no more excuse to delay the inevitable. "I'll go find Lily."

Dumbledore gave an approving nod and swept out of the room.

* * *

Harry groaned and fussed under the covers. He was trying to go to sleep again so he didn't have to face the day's events, but the memory of his dead father shouting for his mother to run, and of his mother protecting him with her own body kept getting in the way. He was wondering idly if he could summon Dobby, even though after debate he realized it wouldn't work, as there were probably countless house-elves named Dobby and he wasn't the master of the Dobby he knew anymore. He rolled over again, banging his head on the pillow, until he gave up. He lay down, flat on his back, and started his Occlumency exercises. Even though Snape had refused to teach him after sixth year, he had studied on his own after the war, and was extremely proficient at it. Furthermore, he had even convinced Hermione to study Occlumency as well so that he could practice his Legilimency skills, of which he was extremely well at too.

After only a few minutes, Harry threw off the covers, and settled to sleep on the hard, cold floor. After nearly a year of sleeping on the floor in what should have been his seventh year, he was now unused to the soft and comfortable edge of a bed. He stuffed his wand in his pocket, before settling into a deep sleep.

* * *

Lily was humming in Grimmauld Place's kitchen, making dinner. James peeked in from the doorway, and called in a meek voice, "Lily? Could we talk for a minute?" Then turning toward Sirius, he said, "By the way, Padfoot, we're staying at your house here for the night."

Sirius was too busy stealing some of the tart Lily had made earlier to do more than give a subtle thumbs up.

Lily gave James a concerned look, before following him out of the room. James turned to go up the stairs, and Lily followed, knowing they were going to the private rooms normally reserved for them when they stayed over. "What's going on?" Lily asked curiously. "You're not sick, are you? You're looking a bit feverish, James, should I go get some ice? Or -"

"I'm fine Lily, honestly, I just have some news to share that I think we should discuss in private, before you hear it with everyone else at the next Order meeting."

"Oh, alright," Lily said, as they reached the door and James pulled it open, into their room.

"So what is it?" Lily asked as she sunk into the bed, James still standing at the edge.

"I really don't know how to begin," James said, looking at the ground.

"Cue in Professor Dumbledore, who would then say 'The beginning is usually the best place to begin,'" Lily said, making a funny impression of Dumbledore.

James laughed, although he was in anything but the mood to have fun. "Well, you know the boy who we accidentally summoned…?" James asked slowly.

"Yes," Lily said patiently.

"The boy… the boy - he's - I - it's Harry."

"You're not making sense, James." Lily said patiently again.

"It's Harry." James said in a louder, clearer voice again.

"What?" Lily said instantly. She had seen the boy when he was summoned, and although he was bloody and messy, he had still looked obstinately like James, and as soon as the word "Harry" was mentioned, she knew it was not a coincidence. "Our Harry?"

James looked at the floor.

Slowly, Lily brought her head down too. "Our Harry…" she whispered. "It's not a cruel joke, is it?"

James mutely shook his head.

"I… I've longed so many times for it all to be a dream, for Harry to really be alive." Lily said, looking up abruptly. "Take me to him."

"Lily…" James said slowly.

"Take me!" Lily said, her cheeks flushing red. "I… Don't you want to see Harry?"

"I want Harry back every bit as much as you do, Harry. But… that's not our Harry."

"Harry is Harry, James! That boy may be from an alternate universe, but that boy is still my son!"

"I don't deserve this, Lily. Don't you think about it sometimes? That James of another world managed to protect that Harry from harm. He managed to keep Harry from dying. That James _deserved_ that Harry. Do you think I do, after failing my first son?"

There was a pause, before Lily stood. "You have no right to talk that way, James." She said, jabbing a finger into her husband's chest. "You had no way of knowing Peter was the traitor. Maybe in another world, by some luck, he had been found out, and none of this happened. Maybe Peter was never the traitor in their world. Maybe something different happened!" Lily shouted.

James gave Lily a long, searching look. "You're right." he said.

Obviously that wasn't what Lily was expecting, but she just smiled and once again repeated, "Take me."

"He is probably sleeping though, you know, he's had a long day."

Lily groaned. "Just take me, James."

James rapidly marched out of the apartment, unwilling to fuel his wife's anger, and reached out and took her hand in his. Together, in silence, they walked their way into the guest bedroom Harry was staying at.

James put a hand on the doorknob. All of a sudden, he couldn't seem to move. The pressure was getting to him, until Lily gently put her hand over his. Lily twisted the handle, and without a sound, the door swung open.

The sight before them was certainly a sight to see.

Harry was on the floor, seemingly screaming, but no sound was coming out. James gave Lily a look, but Lily had already rushed forward and cast a Finite Incantatem to remove the Silencing Spell that had been placed. Immediately, screams of "No, please not him! Don't kill him!" rang through the hallway. James quickly put up another Silencing Spell so as not to disturb the other occupants of the house, but so that they could still hear Harry. James shook his shoulder, and faster than a flash, Harry was up.

With his wand pointing directly at James and a hand already reaching out to grab his neck.

When he saw who it was though, his hand clenched and he seemed to flinch, which Lily thought weird. "Dad?"

James smiled lopsidedly, unable to get Harry's voice saying "Dad" out of his head. Lily smiled too, but said softly, "Go back to sleep, Harry," tears coming to her eyes.

"No, wait." Harry sat up. "What's going on?"

"Nothing, it's just… I'm sure Dumbledore has told you we lost our own Harry in this world. We were just so overcome by our emotions that we wanted to see you, and I didn't want to wait until morning," Lily replied softly. "We're sorry, go back -" All of a sudden, she spotted Harry's hand.

Her eyes fled to Harry's, and Harry slowly trailed her eyes from his hand. Abruptly, he turned his hand away and refused to meet Lily's eyes.

"What was that?" Lily asked.

"What was what?" Harry asked, still refusing to look at either of them.

"Lily?" James asked curiously.

"On your hand," Lily said, looking at Harry with wide eyes. "What was that?"

"Nothing," Harry replied firmly, still looking away.

Lily moved closer. "Nothing? Well, that certainly didn't look like nothing. You know what that looked like? It looked like dried blood."

Harry swallowed.

Lily was standing right in front of Harry now. "Show me your hand."

Harry swallowed again. "I don't think you need to see." Harry said stubbornly.

Lily's glare turned murderous. "If someone's going to use a Blood Quill on my son, then I think I very well need to see."

Harry's eyes turned down at that. No matter how much he was determined to not let his mum see, that one sentence had undone all Harry had done to try and keep a calm mask. That was certainly the first time someone had been so protective of him since Sirius had died. And though Arthur Weasley was certainly like a second father to him, he already had seven of his own brood - or six, now - Harry thought bitterly, and he had certainly never called him "son."

It didn't matter what Harry had been going to do anyway, although he certainly was on the edge of showing it to his mum. Lily Potter snatched Harry's hand, in a gentle touch that Harry found himself thinking only his mum could have. James had come to look too, and both of them were gaping at Harry's hand.

Harry broke the contact off abruptly, and had his hand turned away. There was a pause, before Lily said, "Who did this to you?" in a heartbreaking voice.

"A professor," Harry replied reluctantly.

"And how could Dumbledore allow this?" James asked, his mouth in a firm line.

"It's not like he had a choice; the Ministry intervened. Besides, I don't think anyone knew besides the Toad and me."

Lily and James gave each other a look. "You're coming home with us." Lily said, and James nodded in agreement.

Harry gave them incredulous looks. "You've known me for approximately a day, and you've just decided you're taking me home. I'm not even your real son!"

"Harry is Harry," James repeated Lily's words from earlier, giving Lily a soft acknowledgement. "You're coming home with us."

"Can you get up, Harry?" James asked worriedly.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Harry said, although this statement was immediately refuted by Poppy Pomfrey rushing in and screeching, "What in Merlin's name happened in your world? I just looked over the diagnosis again, and I found that your nerves are very nearly damaged! How could you not have used Nerve Regeneration Draught? And what in Merlin's name are you doing up? Your ribs are still broken! Lie down!"

Harry groaned as Madam Pomfrey nearly pushed him onto the bed. "It was a long time ago, and Professor Snape had just died, and I really didn't feel like asking Professor Slughorn or anyone for the damn potions, alright? I don't need the potion."

Lily and James had been startled. There was, after all, only one reason why someone needed the Nerve Regeneration Draught, and neither of them liked that reason at all.

"How many times have you been under the Cruciatus?" James asked solemnly.

Harry hesitated, seemingly thinking, which James did not like at all. "Well… there was that time in my fourth year when I was Crucioed twice, and then in fifth year, luckily Hermione saved me from being Crucioed, then there was that time in sixth year when Draco tried to Crucio me, and then in seventh year, Vincent Crabbe tried as well, and then Voldemort used the curse on me because he thought I was dead, but luckily there was no pain."

James and Lily were, for what seemed like the millionth time, gaping in shock.

"Madam Pomfrey, if you don't mind, Harry will be coming home with us." Lily said firmly. Poppy glared at Lily but relented and said, "Fine, but he's not walking. He's in absolutely no shape to walk. You'd have to carry him or something -"

Harry was lifted into the air by his father.

"Wait!" Harry cried. "I don't need to be carried! I'm of age, for Merlin's sake!"

James ignored him and carried him bridal style, something Poppy Pomfrey seemed to find quite hilarious.

Lily smiled as well, and said to Harry, "Let your father carry you. You might have been carried multiple times by your father before, but James has never carried you before. Let him carry you just this once, Harry."

"What?" Harry gave a confused look at them. "My father's never carried me before in my world that I can remember. What do you mean?"

Lily looked on curiously at Harry as well. "Your dad's never carried you before?"

"Not since I was one, anyway." Harry muttered. "He's never hugged me, touched me, said any fatherly advice ever."

Lily and James shared another confused look, but Lily's blood was growing cold at Harry's words. She decided it would be best to wait until Harry got home before they discussed it, though. When they were finally outside Grimmauld Place, Lily immediately apparated, and James simply said, "You'll be side-along apparating with me," before Harry was sucked into a tight tube. Harry found it extremely hard to breathe and clutched a hand at his side where his rib was, before he felt James land on the ground once more. Harry breathed slowly, gasping, until James noticed something was wrong. "Harry?" he asked, "Are you alright? Merlin, I forgot you had a broken rib, we really shouldn't have apparated -"

"I'm fine," Harry said, slowly removing his hand. "I'm fine, really."

James looked unconvinced but he adjusted Harry so that he could hold Harry without injuring his ribs more. Harry grumbled slightly at this, but didn't say anything otherwise.

James entered the house and walked up the stairs, toward Harry's old room that they had kept. Since Godric's Hollow was more than big enough, they had kept Harry's old crib and bought new things for Harry as they would've if Harry had survived. Now, James was grateful that they had kept all this and bought Harry things. As James looked down at Harry, he realized that Harry was already asleep, so he set Harry down softly on the bed and brushed the top of his messy hair. "Good night, Harry," he said, even though it was only nearing six o'clock. He briefly wondered how he was going to tell his other two sons that they had a brother, and Sirius that his godson was back.

* * *

"He seems to have been through so much," Lily said mournfully. "How could the other Lily and James not have known what he's been through?"

James sighed, but gave no answer. The day's events had been catching up to him, and he wondered if this was all just a dream.

Lily sat in silence as well. His basilisk bite, the suffering under the Cruciatus, the Blood Quill, what had gone on in his life?

Suddenly, realization dawned on Lily. She had been so stupid, so ignorant not to have seen it before. It had been so obvious! The way he flinched when James had touched him, the comment about not being carried before, why he had told James to "torture him later", when James first saw him. (Lily had been informed of the conversation between Dumbledore and Harry entirely.)

 _Why hadn't she seen this sooner?_

"James!" she cried, tears already streaking down her eyes. "How couldn't I have seen this sooner?"

"Seen what?" James said, softly stroking her back. "What?"

"Harry was abused by his family."

James' wand clattered to the floor, but he seemed undisturbed by that, making no move to pick it up. " _What?_ " He asked. "What did you say?"

"Oh, James!" She began crying. "We must've been horrible to him. Didn't you hear? He said Professor Dumbledore was like a second father to him! You heard! Why would he need a second father if he had a perfectly good one? And if anyone was the second father, why wasn't it Sirius? Even Remus! And didn't you see him flinch, back when you woke him? I've never seen anyone flinch like that before! And when he first saw you, didn't he call you a bastard, to torture you later? And he says he's never been carried, touched, received fatherly advice before! _What kind of family had they - have we - been?_ "

And for the first time, even though experiencing shock many times that day, did James think he truly understood what "speechless" meant.

Lily continued. "The evidence has always been right there, waiting to be seen! What kind of parents must have we been? We need to ask Harry what we did to him in his world -"

James laid a hand on his wife's shoulder, effectively stopping Lily from continuing, to draw the line. "We're not going to ask him, Lils. No matter what, I doubt he'll answer truthfully to us. We'll need to tell Dumbledore about our findings, but we will not confront Harry, alright Lily?"

"It's just he's been through so much by himself, and I want him to know we'll be there for him, you know, James?"

"I do," James said, and there were not two more truthfully spoken words that had been uttered before. "Perhaps we should floo the Headmaster now, shouldn't we?"

"Maybe tomorrow, James, I'm really not up for this now," Lily said hesitantly. "It still needs to all sink in."

James silently agreed.

In one swift motion, Lily was standing beside James, and she said firmly, "Dumbledore isn't part of this family. But you know who is?"

James nodded. "We better go tell Char and Leo," he said, before wondering how in the world he would manage that.

* * *

"Hermione, I reckon you don't know what you're doing, for once in your life. Just let Luna try, she says she knows, anyway." Ron grumbled.

Hermione shot an annoyed look at him, before saying, "Well if you think you can do any better, then you try, honestly."

Ron tossed his head back from the couch he was sitting on, munching on a scone. "Well, Luna certainly thinks she can do better. Why won't you let her try? Bloody hell, you're becoming like Snape! Remember that first Potions lesson we had, when Harry didn't know the answer to that idiotic aconite and monkswood question? And you did, but Snape just called you a show-off that didn't know anything about anything? Let Luna have her shot, Hermione."

Ginny was ignoring the conversation between the two of them, albeit a little surprised that for once, Ron was not taking his girlfriend's side, but Luna's. Ron must've been extremely desperate to find Harry, even though he seemed extremely relaxed, if he was arguing with Hermione.

Hermione huffed, but handed the sharp fragment over to Luna. Luna inspected it, and simply said, "You've been doing the exact opposite of what should be done." and gave it back.

Hermione gave Luna a blank look, obviously annoyed at her vagueness.

"What do you mean?" Neville piped up, silent, occasionally fiddling with Trevor, his toad, every now and then.

"You've been doing the opposite of what should be done," Luna repeated.

"Yes, we know, but what _should_ we be doing?" Hermione questioned.

Ginny stared at the broken edge again, before Draco seemed to come to a realization and said, "You've been adding spells this entire time? What if you simply needed to _remove_ a spell, you idiotic dunderheads?"

"You sound like Snape," Ron piped up, before he even knew what he was saying. When he saw Draco's expression though, he immediately decided to retract his statement with a sheepish "Sorry."

"Well?" Ginny asked, seeking Luna's approval. "Is that it?"

Luna gave a nod, before looking dreamily at the ceiling again.

"What spell should we be removing then?" Neville asked, idly stroking Trevor, who seemed pleased at the sudden attention.

"Doesn't matter," Draco said. "A Finite Incantatem on it should work well enough. For a darker spell, possibly Priore Carmine," he added.

"Well Luna, would you do the honors?" Ginny asked. Hermione scowled from the corner of her eye, but Ginny gave it no thought as Luna smiled.

"Of course," she replied, and with a "Priore Carmine!" the broken mirror fragment flashed and healed itself.

"So my theory was right," Draco boasted proudly. "Obviously none of you Gryffindors could have ever been smart enough to figure that out."

"Don't hear you accusing the Ravenclaw though," Ginny retorted. "It was Luna's idea, not yours."

"Stop arguing," Neville said firmly, and it was enough, because the room was silent.

Harry had given all of them a glass shard of a broken mirror given to him by Sirius in his fifth year. Harry himself had taken up carrying Sirius' around. The mirror guaranteed that no matter where the owners went, they could still keep in contact with each other. Even a small glass shard counted, although it wasn't nearly enough to be able to see someone's face, just enough to hear their voice. Hermione had come up with the idea that if they all put their glass shards together, then they might be able to see Harry, no matter where he was, as long as the mirror had been brought along. Since no one had any idea what spell Harry had used to keep the glass shards apart, so that two of them could not come together accidentally, they had been trying different spells all afternoon.

"Well anyhow, that was brilliant," Ginny praised Luna.

"Now all we need is for it to work." Ron replied solemnly. (A/N: Someone asked me why I changed the story from having Harry's friends go with him to the alternate universe to staying in the original universe, and here is the reason. I realized that Harry's friends are necessary in this story line because no one is going to know the Boy Who Lived is gone, aside from his friends. And therefore, there will not be a canon universe story plot.)

* * *

James and Lily had sat through dinner, looking guiltily at their two children the entire time. Albus was in his office, trying to make sense of what role Harry had to play in the upcoming war, inevitably. Harry was still in bed, sleeping. Ron, Hermione, Neville, Draco, Ginny, and Luna were desperately trying to contact Harry.

Sirius was wondering when Lily would finally catch him eating her tarts.

 _It had been a long day_.

* * *

A/N: Hey ya'll, thanks so much for supporting this story, even though it's only in its first two chappies. I'd really appreciate it if you could go check out one of my Harry Potter one-shots, titled _Going Back_. It's a short story of Snape reminiscing the good times with Lily. Thanks, guys.

Also, on a side note, who here plays Mystic Messenger? I seriously need some help to stop breaking hearts, if I want to get a good ending.

Also, by the way, my New Year's Resolution is to memorize the first chapter of _Philosopher's Stone_ , so wish me luck! This is one resolution I'm not going to quit on.


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